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MeiLinNeo_2017U-_巨蚌的迷人秘密生活_
Back home, my friends call me nicknames , such as "The Giant Clam Girl," 在老家,我的朋友给我取昵称, 比如「巨蚌女孩」、
nicknames:n.绰号;昵称(nickname的复数); Giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 Clam:n.蛤;蛤蜊;蚌;v.挖蛤;保持沉默;嘴紧;
'"Clam Queen," 「蚌蛤女王」、
or, "The Mother of Clams ." 或是「蚌蛤之母。」
Clams:n.蛤蚌;沉默寡言的人(clam的复数形式);
(Laughter) （笑声）
This is because every time I see them, 这是因为每当我见到他们,
I talk nonstop about giant clams all day, every day. 就会整天不停地谈论着巨蚌, 每天都如此。
nonstop:adj.直达的;不休息的;不着陆的;n.直达车;adv.不休息地;
Giant clams are these massive and colorful shelled marine animals, the largest of its kind. 巨蚌是这种又大又重 且色彩鲜艷的有壳海洋动物, 是同类中最大的。
massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的; shelled:adj.带壳的;去壳的;v.使去壳(shell的过去分词); marine:adj.海的;海产的;海生的;海船的;n.(尤指美国或英国皇家)海军陆战队士兵;
Just look at this shell. 看看这个壳。
The biggest recorded individual was four-and-a-half-feet long and weighed about 550 pounds. 记录中最大的巨蚌, 有 4.5 英呎长, 重量约 550 磅。
individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的;
That is almost as heavy as three baby elephants. 那几乎是三只幼象加起来的重量。
South Pacific legends once described giant clams as man-eaters that would lie in wait on the seabed to trap unsuspecting divers . 南太平洋传奇中说到巨蚌会吃人, 牠们躺在海底等待, 捕捉那些没起疑的潜水夫。
legends:n.传说; (legend的复数) described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式) man-eaters:n.食人族;食人者;食人动物; seabed:n.海底;海床; trap:v.使陷入困境;卡住;夹住;收集;吸收;n.陷阱;圈套;捕捉器;诡计; unsuspecting:adj.不怀疑的;未猜想到…的; divers:adj.不同种类的,各式各样的;
A story goes that a diver had lost his legs while trying to retrieve a pole from a giant clam. 有个故事说,一位潜水夫失去了双脚, 当时他正试图从巨蚌中取得珍珠。
retrieve:v.取回;索回;检索数据;挽回;找回;n.恢复; pole:n.磁极;电极;柱子;杆子;v.用篙撑船;摆船;
I thought, "Really?" 我心想:「真的吗？」
So out of curiosity , 出于好奇心,
curiosity:n.好奇,好奇心;珍品,古董,古玩;
I did an experiment using myself as bait . 我做了个实验,用我自己当饵。
bait:v.引诱;在…中放诱饵;折磨;n.饵;诱饵;vi.中途休息;
(Laughter) （笑声）
I carefully placed my hand into the clam's mouth and waited. 我小心地把我的手放到 蚌蛤的口中,等待着。
Hmm ... 嗯……
I still have my hand. 我的手还在。
It seems that these gentle giants would rather retreat and protect their fleshy bodies than feed on me. 似乎这些温和的巨大生物宁可退开, 保护牠们的肉体, 而非把我当食物。
giants:n.巨人;大汉;巨兽;巨树;(giant的复数) would rather:宁愿,宁可; retreat:v.撤退;退却;后退;退缩;n.撤退;退却;退缩;退避; fleshy:adj.肉的;肉质的;丰满的;
So much for those killer clam myths ! 蚌蛤杀手的神话就到此为止。
myths:神话;谬见;
Unfortunately , the reality is, we are the giant clams' biggest threat. 不幸的是, 事实上我们是巨蚌最大的威胁。
Unfortunately:adv.不幸地;
Considered a delicacy throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, giant clams have been traditionally fished as seafood . 从西太平洋一路到印度洋, 牠们惯例被当成是佳肴, 被捕捉之后,做成海鲜料理。
delicacy:n.美味;佳肴;微妙;精密;精美;敏锐,敏感;世故,圆滑; throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及; traditionally:adv.传统上;习惯上;传说上; seafood:n.海鲜;海味;海产食品;
Fishermen are particularly interested in the adductor muscles , which are organs that hold the two shells together like a hinge . 渔夫特别感兴趣的是牠们的闭壳肌, 也就是把两片壳 连起来的铰链式器官。
particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; adductor:n.[解剖]内收肌;内转肌; muscles:n.肌肉(muscle的复数); organs:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴(organ的复数); shells:n.壳;壳状物;炮弹;v.炮击;给…去壳(shell的第三人称单数和复数) hinge:n.铰链,折叶; v.用铰链连接; (门等)装有蝶铰;
Just for their muscles, giant clams were almost hunted to extinction between the 1960s and 1980s. 只因为牠们的肌肉, 在 1960 到 1980 代间, 巨蚌几乎被捕杀到绝种。
extinction:n.绝种;
Clamshells are also popular in the ornamental trade as jewelry and for display . 在饰品贸易上,蚌壳也很抢手, 被当作珠宝,用来展示。
Clamshells:n.蛤壳;蛤壳状挖泥器;(clamshells是clamshell的复数); ornamental:adj.装饰的,装饰性的;n.观赏植物;装饰品; display:n.显示;炫耀;vt.显示;表现;陈列;vi.[动]作炫耀行为;adj.展览的;陈列用的;
In the South China Sea, fishermen went out of their way to collect fossilized clamshells by digging through large areas of coral reefs . 在南海, 渔夫会特地去收集变成化石的蚌壳, 他们会挖遍珊瑚礁来寻找。
fossilized:adj.石化的;僵化的;老化的;v.石化(fossilize的过去式和过去分词); coral:n.珊瑚;珊瑚虫;adj.珊瑚的;珊瑚色的; reefs:n.礁石(reef的复数形式); v.收帆;
These were later carved and sold as so-called "ivory handicrafts " in China. 这些是在中国被雕刻再贩售的 所谓「象牙手工艺品」。
carved:v.雕刻;刻;把(熟肉)切成块;(carve的过去分词和过去式) so-called:adj.所谓的;号称的; handicrafts:n.手工艺(handicraft的复数);手工艺品;
Giant clams, dead or alive, are not safe from us. 巨蚌,不论死活, 都逃不过我们的手掌心。
It's a "clamity!" 这是「蚌灾」！ （注:从灾难 Calamity 改来）
(Laughter) （笑声）
(Applause) （掌声）
With the spotlight on more charismatic marine animals such as the whales and coral reefs, it is easy to forget that other marine life needs our help, too. 有魅力的海洋动物 比较会得到注意力, 比如鲸鱼和珊瑚礁, 很容易就会忘记其他海洋生命 也需要我们的协助。
spotlight:n.聚光灯;反光灯;公众注意的中心;v.聚光照明;使公众注意; charismatic:adj.超凡魅力的;神赐能力的;
My fascination with giant clams got me started on conservation research to fill in the knowledge gaps on their ecology and behavior. 我对巨蚌的着迷, 让我开始进行保育研究, 补起关于牠们的生态 与行为的知识缺口。
fascination:n.魅力;魔力;入迷; conservation:n.保存,保持;保护; gaps:n.差异,缺口;缝隙(gap的复数形式);v.裂开;使豁裂(gap的第三人称单数形式);
One of the discoveries that we made was that giant clams could walk across the seafloor . 我们的发现之一是巨蚌 会在海底行走。
seafloor:n.海底;
Yes, you heard me right: they can walk. 是的,你们没听错: 牠们会行走。
To find out, we placed numerous baby clams on a grid . 为了求证, 我们把数只幼蚌放在格子上。
numerous:adj.许多的,很多的; grid:n.网格;格子,栅格;输电网;
Now watch what happens over 24 hours. 看看二十四小时后发生了什么事。
We think that walking is important for getting away from predators and finding mates for breeding . 我们认为行走的重要性 是为了远离猎食者, 以及找寻交配对象,
predators:n.捕食性动物;实行弱肉强食的人(或机构);掠夺者;(predator的复数) mates:n.朋友; v.交配; breeding:n.繁殖;饲养;教养;再生;v.生产;培育;使…繁殖;(breed的现在分词)
While it can hard to imagine any movement in these enormous animals, giant clams up to 400 pounds can still walk, they just move slower. 虽然很难想像 这些巨大的动物会移动, 重达 400 磅的巨蚌仍可以行走, 只是移动得比较慢些。
enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的;
During my PhD, I discovered more secrets about the giant clams. 在我读博士班时,我发现了 更多关于巨蚌的秘密。
But there was something missing in my work. 但,我的研究中少了什么。
I found myself asking, "Why should people care about conserving giant clams?" -- other than myself, of course. 我发现自己纳闷: 「为什么人们要在乎巨蚌的保育？」 当然,是指我以外的人。
conserving:adj.保存的;v.保护;保藏;糖渍(conserve的ing形式);
(Laughter) （笑声）
It turns out that giant clams have a giant impact on coral reefs. 结果发现,巨蚌对于 珊瑚礁的影响很巨大。
impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
These multitasking clams are reef builders , food factories, shelters for shrimps and crabs and water filters , all rolled into one. 这些蚌蛤是多工的, 牠们是珊瑚礁建造者、 食物工厂、 虾子和螃蟹的庇护所、 以及滤水器, 多种功能合一。
multitasking:n.多重任务处理;多重任务执行; builders:n.[建]施工人员(builder的复数);生成器; shrimps:n.基围虾;小虾米(shrimp的复数形式); crabs:n.蟹类;吊钳;脾气坏的人(crab的复数);v.捕蟹;抱怨;侧航(crab的三单形式); filters:n.过滤器; v.过滤; (filter的第三人称单数和复数)
In a nutshell , giant clams play a major contributing role as residents of their own reef home, and just having them around keeps the reef healthy. 概括来说, 巨蚌对牠们自己住的珊瑚礁 扮演着重要贡献的角色, 光是有牠们在那里, 就能保持珊瑚礁健康。
In a nutshell:极简单地;简言之;简而言之;总而言之; contributing:v.捐献,捐赠(尤指款或物);捐助;增加;增进;(contribute的现在分词) residents:n.居民;住院医生;房客;(resident的复数)
And because they can live up to 100 years old, giant clams make vital indicators of coral reef health. 因为巨蚌能活到一百岁, 牠们是珊瑚礁的重要健康指标。
live up to:不辜负;做到;实践; vital:adj.至关重要的;生死攸关的;有活力的; indicators:n.指示信号;标志;指针;方向灯;(indicator的复数)
So when giant clams start to disappear from coral reefs, their absence can serve as an alarm bell for scientists to start paying attention, similar to the canary in a coal mine . 当珊瑚礁中的巨蚌开始消失, 牠们的失踪可被当作是警铃, 要科学家开始多留意, 类似煤矿中的金丝雀。
disappear:v.消失;失踪;不复存在; absence:n.没有;缺乏;缺席;不注意; canary:n.[鸟]金丝雀;淡黄色; coal mine:煤矿;
But giant clams are endangered . 但巨蚌已濒临绝种。
endangered:v.使遭危险;危及;危害;(endanger的过去分词和过去式)
The largest clam in the world is facing the threat of extinction, with more than 50 percent of the wild population severely depleted . 世界上最大的蚌蛤 正在面临绝种的威胁, 野生巨蚌族群有 超过 50% 在严重减少中。
severely:adv.严重地;严格地,严厉地;纯朴地; depleted:v.大量减少;耗尽;使枯竭;(deplete的过去分词和过去式)
And the ecological benefits of having giant clams on coral reefs are likely to continue only if populations are healthy, making their conservation paramount . 只有在这个族群 能保持健康的情况下, 巨蚌在珊瑚礁中产生的 生态益处才可能持续, 因此牠们的保育非常重要。
ecological:adj.生态的,生态学的; paramount:adj.最重要的,主要的;至高无上的;n.最高统治者;
So I stand here today to give a voice to the giant clams, because I care a whole lot for these amazing animals, and they deserve to be cared for. 所以今天我在这里,为巨蚌发声, 因为我非常关心 这些不可思议的动物, 牠们应该要被好好照顾。
deserve:vi.应受,应得;
It is time for the giant clams to step out of their shells, and show the world that they, too, can be the heroes of the oceans. 该是巨蚌走出蚌壳的时候了, 让世界知道,牠们也可以 扮演海洋的英雄。
Thank you very much. 非常谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）